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Man Accused Of Abusing 2-Year-Old To Stand Trial

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A man accused of abusing his girlfriend's 2-year-old son is heading to trial.

Cory Kuntz, 23, of Derry Township, appeared in court Wednesday morning, where he waived his preliminary hearing.

According to the police report, Kuntz dropped the 2-year-old boy's mother off at work back in April, and was babysitting the boy at an apartment when the abuse occurred.

"He's a really good person. He's great with kids. He would never do this," Joshua Hysell, a friend, said. "I know for a fact that he did not do this,"

According to the criminal complaint, after Kuntz dropped off the boy's mother at work, he went to a McDonald's drive-thru, and then went home to the apartment where he was alone all day with the boy.

Kuntz told police he noticed bruises on the boy getting worse throughout the day.

When he went to pick up the boy's mother from work, she saw the bruises, got upset, and took the boy to Latrobe Hospital.

The child was later transferred to Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, where a doctor reported the boy suffered multiple blows to the face and body and was likely the victim of violent child abuse.

"[Kuntz] was very abused as a child, so I don't see him turning around and doing that to another child," said Hysell

Also, police say when the child's urine test came back in the hospital, it showed drugs in his system. Trace amounts of a street drug, called "Sally," which is an amphetamine, were detected.

Police say Kuntz tried to blame the child's mother for the injuries.

"He actually has PTSD and a lot of other stuff from his childhood, because of the abuse," Hysell said.

The mother and her children have since moved out of the apartment.

Kuntz is now facing charges of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

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